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Roman Mythology
Roman mythology is so often underappreciated in comparison to that of the Greeks. Sure, the Romans stole the Greek's ideas... But they made them their own and we have a lot to show for it still to this day! Founding Myths One of the most famous myths from Rome is the legend of Romulus and Remus. The myth goes that Mars, the god of war, raped a woman named Rhea Silva. Rhea gave birth to twin boys and loved them; however, there were plots against all of their lives because they were prophesied to kill Rhe Silva's father, thi king. So Rhea decided to send the boys adrift down the river. The boys were found by a lupa (most likely a she-wolf) that cared for them until a shepherd and his wife adopted the twins. As the twins grew, they decided they wanted to be kings and decided to build a city at the shores of the Tiber River. They both wanted to be king of the city, and the brothers ended up fighting until Romulus picked up a rock and killed Remus. This was the founding story of Rome, and also how Rome got it's name from Romulus. Another founding story is that of Aeneas, leaving a burning Troy to fulfill his destiny of founding Rome. This story is not as widely known as that of Romulus and Remus, but it is still accepted by Italians today. Virgil's ''The Aeneid ''tells the story of this man, son of Venus herself. He escaped with his lame father and his son, symbolizing the past, present, and future. He left his wife to fulfill his epic quest. Along the way, he stopped in Carthage and became intimate with Queen Dido there. He also left her as his destiny called and she killed herself in response. Pantheist Beliefs Like the Greeks, the romans believed in many gods. They are the main characters of the mythologies, though there are also some having to do with the founding legends of Rome, as well as, heroic sagas and historic events. On the topic of the gods, there existed 12 main Olympians, taking control after the downfall of the Titans. The Titans were the rulers born of Heaven and Earth. The main Titan was Saturn (Greek Cronus), the ruler. He devoured all of his children, but was tricked when Jupiter (Zeus) was born and he ate a rock instead. Jupiter grew up on an island away from his father and under the radar. Eventually, he defeated his father and took control, allowin his devoured brothers and sisters to be freed. Which brings us to our first gods of Olympus: Jupiter (Zeus) and Juno (Hera) Jupiter was the ruler of the sky and all of the other gods. He is famous for his thunderbolts. He could also bring forth rain as well. He was supreme and more powerful than the other gods combined. He married his sister Juno, goddess of marriage, and she ruled as queen of the gods. Yet, Jupiter did not respect her title and was constantly going behind her back to have sex with other goddesses and mortal women. Juno was a jealous wife and would hunt her husband down and get revenge upon the subjects he was with. However, usually these other women were not voluntary in their acts with Jupiter. He raped many women, tricking them in many different ways and appearing in many different forms to do so. It would take too long to go into every affair he had, but Juno herself was not willing to be his wife until he craftily raped her as well and made her his permanent, seventh wife. One of his affairs, however, is worth mentioning. He raped a girl named Io. Being god of the sky, he was able to move the clouds to cover his acts and hide from his wife, but eventually she was able to find him. Knowing she would be mad, Jupiter turned Io into a white heifer to keep her from the wrath of his wife. Upon seeing the heifer, Juno was suspicious. She decided to take the cow and lock her away to spite her cheating husband. Jupiter loved Io and so he tried to find a way to rescue her. Juno had her guarded by a many eyed monster, Argus. Ever watchful, he was impossible to get past. Jupiter enlisted the help of Mercury (Hermes), as he was a fantastic storyteller. Mercures told Argus tale after tale, taking hours and hours to do so. Eventually, one by one, each of the eyes of Argus fell asleep and he was able to slay the beast and rescue Io. Juno was distraught over the death of her beloved monster, so she put his many eyes on her favorite bird, the peacock. Mercury (Hermes) This brings us to Mercury. Mercury was the fastest of the gods. He was also the messenger of Jupiter. He was the son of Jupiter, but not of Juno. He was also brother to Apollo and Diana. As a baby, Mercury was a genius. He crawled from his crib to go exploring and to get into mischief. Upon entering a cave one day, he found a turtle and removing the body, made the lyre from its shell. In the same day, he saw Apollo's chariot descend below the horizon. Knowing his brother was busy with the sunset, he set off to steal some of his cattle. He roasted a couple and ate them, but was very smart about not revealing himself or making any of it obvious. Then he crept back into his crib where he lie in wait, pretending to sleep. When Apollo realized what had happened, he was furious! He woke his baby brother from his fake sleep, with his lyre beneath his arm, and angrily took him before their father to settle the dispute. Jupiter laughed hysterically upon hearing the story. Thinking Mercury was hilarious, he allowed him to keep the cattle. But to appease Apollo, he made Mercury give up his lyre to him. Apollo has been known for the lyre ever since. Mercury was also the patron of athletes as well as the guide of the dead to the underworld. He is known by his winged helmet and sandals as well as the caduceus. Apollo and Diana (Artemis) A twin to Diana, Apollo is the god of the sun. He drives his chariot across the sky, dragging the sun behind him, from dawn until dusk. He is also the god of music and of prophetic wisdom. His sister is his opposite. She is the goddess of the moon and the hunt. One of her very best friends was another hunter, Orion. Together they would enjoy the thrill of the chase and the hunt. Apollo did not approve of their friendship and their spending so much time together, so he tricked her into killing him with an arrow while he was still far away. Upon realizing what she had done, she put her friend in the sky as a constellation, along with his dog, Sirius. She was a very just and kindly goddess, but her wrath when invoked was unmatched. A man once came upon her bathing by accident in the woods. Because he saw her, she turned him into a stag and his own hunting dogs tracked him down and killed him. Diana (Cont.) Fertility Goddess. Moon Goddess. Huntress Goddess. Triple Goddess- Lunar Virgin, Mother of Creatures, the Huntress or Destroyer. Goddess of nature, fertility, childbirth, wildwood, moon, forests, animals, mountains, woods, and women. Goddess of the hunt. In Roman art Diana usually appears as a huntress with bow and arrow, along with a hunting dog or a stag. Both a virgin goddess and an earth goddess, she was identified with the Greek Artemis. She is praised for her strength, athletic grace, beauty and her hunting skills. With two other deities she made up a trinity: Egeria the water nymph (her servant and assistant midwife), and Virbius (the woodland god) Minerva (Athena) Minerva was not born in a normal way. Fully grown and fully armored, she came miraculously from the head of her father, Jupiter, due to a "splitting headache." Minerva is the goddess of wisdom as well as the strategy of war. Unlike Mars, she is not blood thirsty, but enjoys the tactics and wisdom behind the warring. She gave the gift of the olive tree to mankind as well. Neptune (Poseidon) Neptune is god of the waters and controls both freshwater and saltwater on earth. He is also god of horsemanship and can create earthquakes. His gift to mankind was the horse. He is the brother of Jupiter, Pluto (Hades) Pluto is the god of the Underworld, where he rules with his queen, Proserpine (Persephone), whom he took while she was out playing in the flowers. He is in charge of the dead and keeps them within Tartarus with the help of his three-headed dog, Cerberus. Charon is the boatman of the Underworld that ferries the dead across the River Styx for a price. Pluto is a dark god, very rarely coming to the surface world. Within his realm, there is Tartarus, where the wicked go to be punished cruelly, and the Elysian Fields, where the worthy go to live joyous afterlives much similar to the ones they lived while they were alive. Mars (Ares) Mars was the god of war and blood thirst. Unlike Minerva, he did not care why or how he went to war, he just loved the bloodshed, glory, and gore of it all. He was actually not great at war, and was often defeated. He had a love interest in the goddess, Venus, and they often had an affair together. Mars is the son of Jupiter and Juno. Mars (Cont.) Mars (Latin: Mārs, adjectives Martius and Martialis) was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome.1 He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions. His festivals were held in March, the month named for him (Latin Martius), and in October, which began and ended the season for military campaigning and farming. Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace, and was a father (pater) of the Roman people.4 In the mythic genealogy and founding myths of Rome, Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus with Rhea Silvia. His love affair with Venus symbolically reconciled the two different traditions of Rome's founding; Venus was the divine mother of the hero Aeneas, celebrated as the Trojan refugee who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus laid out the city walls. Venus (Aphrodite) Goddess of love and beauty, Venus was the patron of virgins, young unmarried women. When the women married, they fell under the protection and care of Juno. Venus was deemed the most beautiful goddess by the Trojan prince, Paris. The story that started the Battle of Troy starts this way: There was a wedding and all of the gods were invited, save for one, the goddess of discord, Eris. Angry about this, she threw a golden apple into the midst of the guests. Upon it were the words "to the fairest." This created, as you probably guessed, discord. Juno, Minerva, and Venus all fought over who was the fairest (sounds like a familiar Disney movie...). Jupiter, knowing no good could come out of his making a decision, pushed the burden off onto Paris. The three goddesses all offered him various things to persuade him in their favor, but in the end, he chose Venus, who promised him the most beautiful woman on the earth. This woman was none other than Helen and so, the Queen of Sparta and wife to King Menelaus, was awarded to Paris. This started the Trojan War. Venus did end up using her golden apple for good later on, helping a young princess to lose a race against her suitor and so be married to him. Venus was supposedly born from the sea and also had a son named Cupid who fell in love with a woman named Psyche. Venus was married to the god of the forge, Vulcan. Vulcan (Hephaestus) It is an ironic fate that Vulcan should receive the beautiful Venus as his wife from Jupiter. He himself was the only ugly god, disfigured and lame. There are a couple of stories as to how this happened, one being that Juno hurled him out of the heavens and the other being the Jupiter did so. Either way, he was thrown from Olympus and was severely injured. He actually built the palace on Olympus as well as Jupiter's thunderbolts, Neptune's trident, Hade's pitchfork (or helmet depending on the story), and supposedly Tartarus. He was the god of fire and the forge and gave the gift of gold to mankind. Vesta (Hestia) Vesta is the goddess of the home and the hearth and protector of the gift of Prometheus to mankind: fire. It is in her temple that the Vestal Virgins guarded the sacred flame as well as the secrets of mankind. These virgins were devoted to thirty years of service and were regarded in high esteem within Rome, having many of the same privileges of men at the time. They were treated very well and their counsel was respected and admired. They had a place of honor within society. However, if she broke her vow of celibacy, she was buried alive. Other Gods A couple of other important gods that were not inhabitants of Olympus were Bacchus (Dionysus) and Ceres (Demeter). Bacchus is the god of wine and is known for his ability to drive people to insanity. He was worshipped for his gift of the vine. There was a group of women that worshipped him by getting drunk and running around in the nude, and because of this, they were banned. Rome declared a law that no religious ceremony or happening could include more than two people so that they could control these Bacchites. Ceres is the goddess of the grain and crop. She is also the mother of Proserpina, the queen of the Underworld. Roman Mythology Today Roman mythology is commonly used in advertisement and in sayings we use. And of course Latin is in our everyday language as well. My favorite mythological reference is a concrete company named after Medusa with the phrase "everything we touch turns to stone." There are many others if you keep your eyes open. Just the other day I saw a moving truck with Hercules as their company name and logo. Category:Research Pages Category:Roman Republic Category:Roman Mythology